The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1887-09-23

| WILLIAM BENJAMIN:-Am foreman on
the sewer and have charge of everything
any time the contractors happen to be
absent; had charge of the men on the
sewer yesterday afternoon; also had
charge of the men when the braces were
put in at the place of the accident and
know how they were constructed; the
evidence of the last witness as to the
braces was right; the braces were put in
Just as ordered; knew about the loose
sand and gravel; it was four or five feet
from the bottom; the cross ditch was at
this place; the former excavation to put
in the water pipe was about eight feet
deep; below this is the streak of gravel
with no dirt between it and the "filled"
dirt; streak of sand and gravel is from
twelve to eighteen inches thick and
about twelve feet long. had an extra set
of braces placed over this sand and had
two planks, one above the other, to keep
ly or quite covered the vein, except q
little on the lower side, the planks be-
ing twelve feet long; wanted another
plank put under the other two to keep
the sand from slipping out; Malone
laughed at the proposition and said 80
keep your shirt on!" Malone thought he
could work better without it; this was
about an hour before the accident; was
representing Williams & Hanlon; was
there during the accident; am instruct
ed to keep the ditch well braced and to
spare no lumber; about four extra braces
were used at the place of the accident;
had known the deceased only since they
had been working on the sewer; saw the
bodies after they where brought here
and recognized them as the remains of
John Malone and Ole Barlow; there
were no signs of water about the place
until after the cave-in.
]. H. HEATER, recalled:-Under the
sand is streak of very tough and sticky
clay about a foot or eighteen inches
thick; when the men dug the ditch they
complained of its being so sticky; the
black dirt is lower there than anywhere
else.
A. r. WILLIAMS:-Am one of the con-
tractors on the Front street sewer; part
ner's name is E. ]. Hanlon; was not at
the scene of the accident when the first
cavern occurred; knew the deceased
since they came here to work on the
sewer; they were John Malone and Ole
Barlow; Malone's home is at Peoria, Ill. ;
he had father, mother and two sisters
there; his fathers name is Lawrence
Malone; think he was Irish; Barlow had
been working for me about six weeks;
do not know whether he had any par
ents; he was Norwegian; don't know
whether he had any family; Malone
laid pipe and Barlow assisted him; heard
the testimony about the appliances for
the protection of the workmen in the
ditch and it was correct; the second
plank was put there by my orders; knew
the gravel would not stand up unless it
was all covered, as / had given orders
to that effect; had ordered the extra
brace spoken of put in; about 8 o'clock
ordered another brace put in and don't
! know why it was not put in; had also
ordered another plank put in below the
two spoken of; my order wasn't filled;
if they had put in another one there
would have been FIVE; have been in the
sewer business four years and have
worked at it steadily, part of the time
as laborer and the rest of the time as
contractor; always use bracing of this
kind in this kind of ground; use per-
pendicular supports in sand; but con-
slider the horizontal supports better in
this kind of ground; knew of the cross
ditch; had told men to put in more lum-
Der about all cross bitches; use three
planks on each side for bracing in solid
ground and two braces to the plank ;
used three braces 10 the plank here;
considered bracing in ditch sufficient; in
ground like that where the accident oc-
Cured consider that more is needed
ground here same as that of other places,
except the streak of sand and gravel
soil on that block not more dangerous
than in the other blocks; this soil re-
quires more bracing than some soils;
soil here like the bottoms at Sioux City,
only this is dry and that is wet; would
call it made" soil-such as is found
where rivers have filed in; it is not as
firm as prairie soil.
Considering it unnecessary to hear
any more witnesses the jury retired and
soon brought in verdict of death by
suffocation, caused by reason of the cave
in in the sewer.
Mr.. f. J. Hanlon, Mr.. Williams part
ner, came from Sioux City yesterday
morning and left on the noon train for
Peoria, H., accompanying the remains
of John Malone to his late home.
MALONE BODY GOES HOME.
A telegram was received from John
Malone's father Tuesday eve., directing
that his sons body be prepared for bur-
Ial and sent by express to Peoria, Ill.
Accordingly this was done and the re-
mains were escorted to the depot
by the band followed by a body Of
fellow workmen and friends of the de-
ceased.
Contractor Williams provided two ele-
CANT caskets for the remains of the two
unfortunates.
The body of Barlow still remains at
the City Hall, none of his relatives, il
he has any, having yet been found. II
the body is not claimed by any body
else. Mr.. Williams will see that it is
properly buried and not turned over to
the State Medical society as the law
would otherwise direct.
LATER.-The funeral of Barlow took
place Thursday.
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= L., &C "A